Tangy-Mike
Tangy-Mike
Great to hear Ken. There will be mistakes and you may even lose a game because they make a wrong choice, but your team and your players will be much better softball players because of your approach.
So here is a question I have - why is it in a 1st & 3rd situation and many times when a slow runner at 1st, we don't throw her out on steal attempt to get the out? we are so concerned about the runner at 3rd, that we give up the force and put another runner in scoring position. there are times to give her 2nd (batter/out situation/score) and there are times to get the out, potentially giving up one run and stopping the bleedinig, especially if your next at bat or early enough in the game, you have a good chance to score!
Jim, you are absolutely right. We played an indoor tourney a week or so ago and I came to the exact same conclusion. If you are not playing to hold the run at third on a hit ball, and you will take an out and give up the run. Why give the other team the opportunity to put two runners into scoring position for doing nothing.
How about cause it only takes 1 run to win a game? I would say it depends on the type of game. Lower level games with lots of hits, errors, baserunning it might work. As the level of play and pitching improves, with equally matched teams the score is much closer. A team may be fortunate to get 1 baserunner in an inning, seldom do they get multiple in one inning, and one big inning for one team with a couple of runs often decides the game. The chance of that runner on 3rd getting home isnt all that great. You must make them earn it, give it up and you may have given away the game. Let them load the bases if need be, get the force after that. Assumes strong pitching though, lots of strikeouts and poorly hit balls to IF.
Mudbug, with a runner on 1st and 3rd and less than two outs - is it your belief that the typical DI or DII college team allows the runner on first to advance to second without regard? Is it also your belief that when a runner gets to third (and less than two outs) those same teams load the bases in order to get outs at home to prevent a run from scoring?
I would agree that the decision to give up a run by throwing down to second all depends on what the batter and the batter on deck has done against your pitcher (either historically or in this game). But, I think that sometimes you have to be willing to prevent the big inning yourself by throwing through or by run the option-read to the second baseman in an attempt to get the runner at second or going home.
It also helps to have a team that hits pretty well and mine does.
14U team, I teach the rule of "3"... That is if the ball takes 3 bounces to get to you, or you take 3 steps to get to the ball you probably are not going to get the lead runner, and using the % the correct play is probably the out at 1st.
We teach them to look and decide if they can get the lead runner tho. Many variables exist in this play; Is another player too far away from the base to get the out? Is the runner too close to the base already to get the out? Is the runner fast or slow? Are your fielders quick with good hands?